Himmat Mahila Samooh v. Haryana

04.29.14 - The Asia program’s new fact sheet features a groundbreaking reproductive rights case, Himmat Mahila Samooh v. Haryana, which was filed in the High Court of Punjab and Haryana at Chandigarh in India in November 2013, by Human Rights Law Network. The case highlights how the lack of access to contraceptives perpetuates the low status of women, increases the risk of unintended pregnancy, and is part of a continuum of discrimination faced by women in Haryana. It is the first case filed in a state high court in India to seek recognition that the government’s failure to ensure access to contraceptive information and services constitutes a fundamental rights violation under the Constitution of India and a violation of women’s human rights under international law. This is the second case filed under the Center’s South Asia Reproductive Justice and Accountability Initiative (SARJAI), a program created by lawyers to promote legal accountability for violations of women’s reproductive rights in South Asia.